**The Definition and Types of Fear ** Fear is composed of instinctive reactions and consciousness. Like other emotions, it operates primarily through imagination. Regardless of its form, the essence of fear is the dread of loss—loss of material resources, life, or immaterial things such as relationships, reputation, emotions, or states of being. Fear can be divided into soft fear and hard fear. Generally, soft fear is non-material, while hard fear is material. Soft fear refers to all fears that do not endanger life or freedom; hard fear refers to those that do.

Fear is subjective, for it is an emotion. It must first be triggered by a concrete object, then amplified and fermented by imagination. For the individual, there is no direct relation between a specific object and fear; everything depends on personal differences. Even collective fears require some kind of bond to connect them—whether learned through experience or inherited genetically. For example, humans’ fear of snakes.

**What Is Truly Worth Fearing ** Soft fear can transform into hard fear, and vice versa. The two can influence and compose one another. In the constant reversals of fear, there will eventually be an outcome. When does this final outcome arrive? It is when the fear of the fearful one dissipates—only then can the actual result of fear be seen. I believe that only what ultimately endangers freedom is truly worth fearing. The fear of losing wealth and other forms of soft fear are essentially magnified results of social conditioning. As long as one does not care about the opinions of others, such fears are not worth mentioning. The collective will always forget; one must eventually let go. In reality, the fears that affect an individual’s survival in society require the individual to solve problems, not to remain in fear.

**Obedience Is Everywhere ** In daily life, when people obey others, norms, or rules, at root it is fear at work. It is merely mixed with more soft fears. Countless human-made concepts serve as cages, and the opinions of others become wounds, together shaping the fears of the individual. Perhaps their share is small, but the root is always the fear of losing something. Under the guidance of reason, people choose obedience, even packaging it as other positive notions to make themselves feel better. From a utilitarian perspective, there is nothing wrong with this—it is simply the result of rational tools at work.

**Can Obedience Bring Benefits? ** Many choose obedience because it brings benefits. Avoiding punishment is one such benefit. But I believe this only holds under transparent rules. When rules are constantly changing, narrowing, or when the cost of obedience outweighs its benefits, then it is no longer worthwhile. Simply put: when a company is about to collapse and delays paying wages, there is no need to continue working. The greatest fear—unemployment leading to loss of income—has already been realized. To continue obeying at that point is purely negative return.

**The Root of Power Is Obedience ** Essentially, the simplest way to gain power is to exploit fear—whether fear of the ruler, of outsiders, or of other important values. This is because the essence of obedience is fear. Whether its use is positive or negative, the difference lies only in the fact that the negative is more direct. When people obey a person or a group, that person or group gains power. In reality, power is granted by the obedient to the ruler, and the magnitude of power is proportional to the quality of obedience.

**What is the quality of obedience? ** It is the ability of the obedient to maintain the system, and the integrity of the system under the ruler’s authority. Rulers may be multiple or singular. Each level of obedience derives its capacity to maintain the system from its subordinates and from its own managerial ability. The integrity of the system depends on the degree of division of labor, with the aim of establishing a self-consistent system.

**Evil Power and Just Power ** Evil power primarily uses violence to create fear, thereby maintaining the normal operation of each level of the system. This is common in groups without resources. When power acquires resources, it tends to shift toward the “just” use of soft fear. Yet this remains unsustainable, greatly weakening the possibility of the group’s survival.

Just power also employs fear, but relies more on soft fear. Compared with evil, it destroys less trust and better sustains the group. The difference between the two lies in the obedient: the more capable a group is of facing fear, the more just the power it generates. This is because there is always a game between the obedient and the ruler. Only when there is a balance of strength can order be maintained without causing suffering to the obedient.

**The Origin of Ethics ** I believe this is the origin of ethics: a tool in the service of power. It has been preserved only because it benefits the majority. And the transformation of ethics is essentially the replacement of one tool with another, more suitable to the development of the times.